Fracture strength of ultrananocrystalline diamond thin films - identification of Weibull parameters

The fracture strength of ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) has been investigated using tensile testing of freestanding submicron films. Specifically, the fracture strength of UNCD membranes, grown by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD), was measured using the membrane deflection experiment developed by Espinosa and co-workers. The data show that fracture strength follows a Weibull distribution. Furthermore, we show that the Weibull parameters are highly dependent on the seeding process used in the growth of the films. When seeding was performed with microsized diamond particles, using mechanical polishing, the stress resulting in a probability of failure of 63% was found to be 1.74 GPa, and the Weibull modulus was 5.74. By contrast, when seeding was performed with nanosized diamond particles, using ultrasonic agitation, the stress resulting in a probability of failure of 63%, increased to 4.13 GPa, and the Weibull modulus was 10.76. The tests also provided the elastic modulus of UNCD, which was found to vary from 940 to 970 GPa for both micro- and nanoseeding. The investigation highlights the role of microfabrication defects on material properties and reliability, as a function of seeding technique, when identical MPCVD chemistry is employed. The parameters identified in this study are expected to aid the designer of microelectromechanical systems devices employing UNCD films. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.